Love - Attributes of God

Recap

We have been talking about the attributes of God. As the series is coming to a close, you might have been wondering, when are we going to talk about God being love or being loving? Well, wait no more!

What is love?

How do we use the word love? There are several ways.

(Like) I love pizza. Eat it a lot.

(Emotions) I love Loki. He is such a good boy.

(Deep emotion/desire) I love Faith and Aria. It is different. It is a deep emotion.

Webster: Strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. Maternal love for a child. Attraction based on desire. Affection and tenderness felt by others.

How does the Bible use the word love?

Matthew 5:43-48 Love your enemies.

Matthew 5:43–48 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

How can we do this? Based on the pervious definitions, this is hard, next to impossible. So what is the Bible’s definition? Turn to 1 Corinthians 13. See, God says we need to love our enemies, but if it was based on emotions, we would never be able to do it.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love is an action, not an emotion.

Can you do these things without feeling like it?

Emotions can follow, but it isn’t leading the charge.

Love is Unconditional.

If you look at this and other passages that talk about loving others. There isn’t qualifications. The Bible says to love your neighbor, love others, and even loving your enemies. But it never says until they do this, or if they do this, then love them.

Love is sacrificial.

Forget loving your enemies. Look at this. Does it sound easy? Does it sound like something that would come naturally? No. It will probably cost you.

If God is not loving, other attributes

You might be like “God is love, okay.” But it’s a big deal. Think about the other attributes.

Knowledge, Wisdom, Power, but not love, that is scary.

Think about it at a lower level. Lets look the verses in 1 Corinthians 13 before verse 4.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

What is the purpose of all of these things if you don’t have love?

The Cross

I could give you all of these examples of God loving me in my life, and if you want to hear them, grab me later. But I want to leave you with the biggest example.

I have written a few letters to Faith over the years expressing my love for her. But I want you to hear one from God expressing His love to us. You can write this down and turn to it later, if it helps to read as I read, go ahead. But I want you to listen. Listen. Listen and hear this amazing letter from God expressing His love.

Isaiah 53 ESV

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

That is love.

Our Response

1 John 4:7–12 ESV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Two things come from this.

In Romans it says He loved us like this while we were sinners. While we were enemies. That is who God is.

What are you going to do with this loving God? Remember, He is just. He must punish sin. But He is also love. He gives you a choice, because He loves you.

And if you have chosen to trust Jesus for salvation alone, how does this love impact you now?

He is

Questions

Why is it hard to sometimes believe that God loves us?

We all go seasons where it’s hard to believe that God is this attribute. Which is one that you struggle believing (Loving, In control, Wise)?

How does God loving us impact our relationship with Him?

How does God loving us impact our relationship with others?